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by lotts (LottieAnna)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF, Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: Implied Repression, M/M, this is the intro to a fic that doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22265305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts
Summary: This is how Cody handles insomnia.
Relationships: Cody Ko/Matthew Tkachuk
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





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**Author's Note:**

> IF YOU FOUND THIS THROUGH GOOGLING, KNOW ANYONE MENTIONED IN THIS STORY PERSONALLY, OR ARE MENTIONED YOURSELF: please, please click away. This is a work of fiction and nothing written in this story is true. Any accurate information used in this story is publicly available information about public figures, the rest is made up, 100%.
> 
> because this is an rpf crossover rarepair i'm just gonna reiterate: DON'T SHOW THIS TO ANYONE PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU
> 
> basically this gdoc has been sitting unfinished on my computer for a while, and then i kept staring at it and realized i liked the first part of this story more than anything that could possibly follow it, so i'm posting it. i know there's a name for this phenomenon but i can't remember what it is.

Traditionally, this is how Cody handles insomnia:

First, he tries to power through and, like, clear his mind of thoughts. He’s been to yoga classes before, he knows a thing or two about meditation, so he’ll give it an honest go, and sometimes it’s enough, but sometimes, the thoughts in his head won’t stop swirling around, and he’ll forget all the helpful strategies he’s learned, because he can’t hold onto any of them for more than a second.

That’s when step two comes into play.

This step is probably less helpful, objectively, but Cody never said that this is how he handles insomnia _ well. _ It’s just that, when it gets really, really bad, this is always what happens. It doesn’t feel like a choice he’s making— which is ridiculous, obviously, because he’s clearly _ doing _it, he’s not getting possessed and losing control of his appendages.

Anyway.

He’ll take out his phone and google— this dude.

He’s a hockey player. Like, a professional one. He plays for the Flames, which means he’s on Cody’s hometown team. Cody saw his face once when he was flipping through the channels at his parents’ house, and ever since, he’s been— like, kind of obsessed, but in a really weird way? 

Which is why Cody only ever looks the guy up when he’s alone, and when the room is dark. He even uses incognito, which is definitely overkill. It’s not like anyone’s checking the browser history on his phone, but it’s 2019, and Cody has a healthy amount of privacy concerns, and, like… he wants to do everything in his power to pretend this Doesn't Happen. As long as his obsession remains a secret, it doesn’t have to be weird, and he doesn’t have to feel guilty about it.

Not that he has anything to feel guilty about. He’s a fan, the guy is famous. He’s allowed to be a little obsessed with him.

The thing is, though, that Cody doesn’t understand the first thing about hockey. Which is kinda blasphemous for a Canadian to say, but he’s Canadian in other ways. He has a complex about maple syrup and he’s super polite. But he was never good at skating, so he never got into hockey, and, like, it’s just not his thing. The puck is small and hard to see, and the fighting seems unnecessary. If you punch someone on ice, you just fuckin’. Move backwards. It’s really pointless.

But once he saw this guy’s face, he couldn’t get him out of his mind, for some reason. He looked up the Flames roster, found out the guy’s name was Matthew Tkachuk— his dad was a big deal once upon a time, and he’s got a younger brother who also plays hockey. He’s good, but also sort of obnoxious. He mouths off and picks fights, and there’s one video called “12 minutes of Matthew Tkachuk pissing people off as a rookie” that Cody’s probably watched a hundred times. Cody’s read articles about how this guy is reigniting rivalries. Old fashioned hockey guys—the kind of guys who would probably very sincerely call Cody a geek—love him for his grit. Other fans love him because he puts up numbers.

And as for Cody… well. Who fucking knows.

All he can say is that he can’t get enough of the guy. Interviews, highlight reels, features, pictures— anything about him, Cody will readily consume. There’s just something about him that Cody can’t really place. It’s not his looks, really. Like, Cody’s obsessed with his face, but it’s not— he’s not _ good looking, _ per se. His skin isn’t great, and he makes some weird fucking choices with his hair sometimes. But he’s got a nice jawline, and a weirdly good mouth, and this… this _ thing _with his eyes, this fire behind them, except that’s a fucking cheesy way of putting it.

Cody doesn’t really know what else to call it, though. Hockey players are notorious for not having much in the way of personality, but it’s so clear that there’s a lot going on underneath the surface, with Matthew Tkachuk. 

Or at least, that’s how it seems to Cody.

But what does he know? He's just a fan.

In any event: after a few hours of catching up on Matthew Tkachuk’s life, Cody will realize that he needs to get the fuck to sleep, so he’ll put down his phone, and, as a last resort, move on to step 3: jerking off. That usually does the trick right away.

Maybe he should reorder his list.


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